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Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
Ryan Holiday
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February 27 - March 12, 2024
The good things in life cost what they cost. The unnecessary things are not worth it at any price. The key is being aware of the difference.
To quote Fight Club again, “We buy things we don’t need, to impress people we don’t like.”
If you hold a perpetually negative outlook, soon enough everything you encounter will seem negative. Close it off and you’ll become closed-minded. Color it with the wrong thoughts and your life will be dyed the same.
Epictetus reminds us, “the first and greatest task of the philosopher is to test and separate appearances, and to act on nothing that is untested.”
The observing eye sees what is. The perceiving eye sees what things supposedly mean. Which one do you think causes us the most anguish?
“Throw out your conceited opinions, for it is impossible for a person to begin to learn what he thinks he already knows.”
Emerson put it well: “Every man I meet is my master in some point, and in that I learn of him.”
We’re constantly looking at the world around us and putting our opinion on top of it. And our opinion is often shaped by dogma (religious or cultural), entitlements, expectations, and in some cases, ignorance. No wonder we feel upset and angry so often! But what if we let these opinions go? Let’s try weeding (ekkoptein; cutting or knocking out) them out of our lives so that things simply are. Not good or bad, not colored with opinion or judgment. Just are.
“These are the characteristics of the rational soul: self-awareness, self-examination, and self-determination. It reaps its own harvest. . . . It succeeds in its own purpose . . .” —MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 11.1–2
It’s not enough to wish and hope. One must act—and act right.
Today, or anytime, when you catch yourself wanting to condescendingly drop some knowledge that you have, grab it and ask: Would I be better saying words or letting my actions and choices illustrate that knowledge for me?
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According to the Stoics, your mind is the asset that must be worked on most—and understood best.
You will only get one shot at today. You have only twenty-four hours with which to take it. And then it is gone and lost forever.
What will you manage to make of today before it slips from your fingers and becomes the past? When someone asks you what you did yesterday, do you really want the answer to be “nothing”?
“The greatest portion of peace of mind is doing nothing wrong. Those who lack self-control live disoriented and disturbed lives.” —SENECA, MORAL LETTERS
Most rudeness, meanness, and cruelty are a mask for deep-seated weakness. Kindness in these situations is only possible for people of great strength. You have that strength. Use it.
“We are what we repeatedly do,” Aristotle said, “therefore, excellence is not an act but a habit.”
“We don’t tell ourselves, ‘I’m never going to write my symphony.’ Instead we say, ‘I’m going to write my symphony; I’m just going to start tomorrow.’”
“I can’t call a person a hard worker just because I hear they read and write, even if working at it all night. Until I know what a person is working for, I can’t deem them industrious. . . . I can if the end they work for is their own ruling principle, having it be and remain in constant harmony with Nature.”
What are the chances that the busiest person you know is actually the most productive? We tend to associate busyness with goodness and believe that spending many hours at work should be rewarded. Instead, evaluate what you are doing, why you are doing it, and where accomplishing it will take you. If you don’t have a good answer, then stop.
The Stoics believed, above all else, that our job on this earth is to be a good human being. It is a basic duty, yet we are experts at coming up with excuses for avoiding it.
“If you find something very difficult to achieve yourself, don’t imagine it impossible—for anything possible and proper for another person can be achieved as easily by you.” —MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 6.19
There are two kinds of people in this world. The first looks at others who have accomplished things and thinks: Why them? Why not me? The other looks at those same people and thinks: If they can do it, why can’t I?
But plans, as the boxer Mike Tyson pointed out, last only until you’re punched in the face.
“To the youngster talking nonsense Zeno said, ‘The reason why we have two ears and only one mouth is so we might listen more and talk less.’” —DIOGENES LAERTIUS, LIVES OF EMINENT PHILOSOPHERS,
Hesiod, the poet, said that “the best treasure is a sparing tongue.”
Always Say Less Than Necessary.
We talk because we think it’s helping, whereas in reality it’s making things hard for us. If our spouse is venting, we want to tell them what they should do. In fact,...
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“The trick to forgetting the big picture is to look at everything close up.”
“Calm is contagious.” Especially when that calm is coming from the man or woman in charge.
As Nietzsche would later say: “It is only ideas gained from walking that have any worth.”
people want freedom, they want happiness, and they want the respect of their peers.
If doing good was easy, everyone would do it. (And if doing bad wasn’t tempting or attractive, nobody would do it.)
Character,” Joan Didion would write in one of her best essays, “the willingness to accept responsibility for one’s own life—is the source from which self-respect springs.”
But shouldn’t we be just as invested in building ourselves as we would be to any company?
“In your actions, don’t procrastinate. In your conversations, don’t confuse. In your thoughts, don’t wander. In your soul, don’t be passive or aggressive. In your life, don’t be all about business.” —MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS
The foundation of a free country is that your freedom to swing your fist ends where someone else’s nose begins.
you are a human being, not a human doing.
We must not get so wrapped up in our work that we think we’re immune from the reality of aging and life.
We tell ourselves that we need the right setup before we finally buckle down and get serious. Or we tell ourselves that some vacation or time alone will be good for a relationship or an ailment. This is self-deceit at its finest. It’s far better that we become pragmatic and adaptable—able to do what we need to do anywhere, anytime. The place to do your work, to live the good life, is here.
Don’t get emotional—get focused.
You become the sum of your actions, and as you do, what flows from that—your impulses—reflect the actions you’ve taken.
“Inwardly, we ought to be different in every respect, but our outward dress should blend in with the crowd.” —SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 5.2
“It is essential for you to remember that the attention you give to any action should be in due proportion to its worth, for then you won’t tire and give up, if you aren’t busying yourself with lesser things beyond what should be allowed.”
“Quality is much better than quantity. . . . One home run is much better than two doubles.”
“What does not kill me makes me stronger,” Nietzsche said. So today if things look like they might take a bad turn or your luck might change, why worry? This might be one of those formative experiences you will be grateful for later.
If the bubble is never inflated, it won’t need to be popped. Overconfidence is a great weakness and a liability. But if you are already humble, no one will need to humble you—and the world is much less likely to have nasty surprises in store for you.
“That which isn’t good for the hive, isn’t good for the bee.” —MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 6.54
“Better to trip with the feet than with the tongue.” —ZENO, QUOTED IN DIOGENES LAERTIUS, LIVES
It’s easy to blame our circumstances. One person curses that they weren’t born taller, another that they’re not smarter, with a different complexion, or born in a different country.
